Blood Dripping Across The Floor
by demon moonlight godess
Summary: Katara is by herself and so is Zuko. What will happen when she finds his mask. And will they ever be able to get along to accpmplish a mission. And could they fall in love on the way? KxZ
1. The Blue and White Demon Mask

_A/N:: This is a Zutara story but i'm gonna take it slow( the whole falling in love thing) Please enjoy, this isn't a one shot. Im goint to try to update every week, because i have most of the story alredy written._

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Katara was running through the dark, dirty, deserted streets of Omashu. The earth kingdom city was crawling with fire nation soldiers and Katara had to escape if she ever wanted to see daylight again. With the full moon as her only light source she forced her self to run faster until she could no longer hear the faint sounds of footsteps scurrying behind her. She stopped to catch her breath. The abandoned water bender blended in with the dark and mysterious night. She had on tight black pants and a black shirt. Her black gloves, boots, and cape matched the rest of her outfit. To complete her disguise she had on a blue and white demon mask that covered her face. She had found the mask on the floor one day while she was running from a bald man who was yelling something about a girl dressed in black who had stolen his bread.

After her lungs had gotten all the air they needed she started to walk back to the vacant hut she had been living in ever since Sokka and Aang left her. She knew they had left her because they did not want her to get hurt, but their betrayal still made her heart ache and brought tears to her eyes every time she thought about it.

She jumped through the back window and collapsed on the bed as soon as she got in. It had been a long day and she was exhausted. She fell asleep with the letter that had mysteriously flown to her clutched tightly in her hand. The piece of paper only bore five words, but those five words still frightened the courageous girl. The letter said…

_You have something I want._

One week earlier…

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Zuko was running with all his might to the top of a large mountain. Why? Because that was all he could do to stop himself from falling apart. As he ran through the trees of the mountain tears continued to stream down his pale face. The exiled Fire Nation Prince had not cried in over nine years, and if the Fire Lord, his father, was present at the scene he would have called Zuko weak. But Zuko was not thinking about his monstrous father. The only thing he could concentrate on was to keep running. So he ran. He ran to try to erase the horrendous scene that was replaying in his head.

Zuko had just witnessed the death of his beloved uncle and he was desperately trying not to fall apart. So he ran. When he got to the top of the mountain that over looked all of Omashu he stopped. Suddenly his right hand swung to his blue and white mask. He violently removed it from his head. Then, unable to resist the urge to throw something, anything, he threw it with all his might to the city of Omashu beneath him. All of a sudden he was furious at himself for disposing himself of the only thing that made him unrecognizable. Anger boiled up inside him like fire running through his being. He pointed his head towards the sky. He opened his mouth and let a long stream of fire escape from it. He brought his arms up, and then down very violently; burning the grass around him.

He tried to calm down; well aware that fire bending abilities went out of control when the fire bender lost control of certain emotions. He focused on the fire around him and some how managed to concentrate on only that. He was able to make it banish. But then the tranquility he found also banished.

He dropped to his knees and screamed. Tears rolled down from his face to the burned grass underneath him. His uncle had died at the hands of his terrible sister Azula, and that made him want to kill her. "Why!" He yelled again and again. He then fainted.

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At the time Katara had been running with a man's bread in her hands. She knew that stealing was wrong but she had not eaten in days and the hunger was killing her. She heard the man she had robbed scream something at her. She had kept running and suddenly turned around a corner as she heard the Fire Nation Soldiers start to shout after her. She was running through a vacant street but then she tripped over something. She turned around to look at what it was; a blue and white mask. She picked it up knowing that it would make her unrecognizable and ran back to her hut.

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Five days after Zuko had fallen apart he had gone down to the city to buy, or more likely steal, some food. When he did he had started to walk back to the mountain but a certain sight made him stop. A girl, or what he decided was a girl because of the person's body, had just walked past him wearing _his_ mask. He had fallowed her and delivered his massage by a non-violent way; paper. He had written…

_You have something I want._

Katara was currently sleeping peacefully in her hut, not being bothered by the letter, and Zuko was somewhere in the mountain, pondering about how he would get his mask back. Contrary to Katara, Zuko could not sleep that night. He got up from the ground and started to slowly walk up to the mountain top. Iroh's death still made his heart and soul ache but he was gone and Zuko could not bring him back.

When he reached the mountain top he sat down on the burnt floor. He sat looking at the full moon. It made him think of the graceful yet deadly water benders who drew their power through the moon. The only water bender he had actually met was a girl from the southern water tribe who had been traveling with the Avatar.

He could not remember her name and that frustrated him, and he did not know why. So for a good three hours he sat there trying to remember the girl's name. _What was it? _He asked himself. _Katana? No. Kara? No. Kamara? No. Kana? No._ He knew it was something with Ka… He finally gave up and tried to fall asleep.

He could not get her face out of his head though. _She's so beautiful._ He thought. _Whoa, where did that come from?_ He asked himself. He then fell asleep on the mountain that over looked all of Omashu thinking that it did not matter because she was probably with the Avatar and he would never see her again. The fire bender had never been more incorrect.

The fallowing day Katara was walking down the streets of Omashu, minding her own business and wearing the mask. All of a sudden she felt a strong arm grab her. The person pinned her to his body and whispered in her ear, "Don't move or scream. You will regret it." Katara let herself get dragged to a completely dark alley. Her heart was racing with fear but she could not help but blush under the mask as she felt the person's strong muscles against her back.

She found her voice and said. "What do you want?" The person replied, "All I want is my mask." Before she could react she was knocked out and when she awoke the person was gone and so was the mask.

She ran back to her hut. She was furious! But she was positive that she would get that mask back. She climbed to the top of her hut, something she did a lot, and sat to look at the burning sun. For some reason she thought that she recognized the voice of the man that had attacked her.

She kept looking at the sun for a few seconds but it hurt her eyes so she had to look away. But the sun did not leave her mind. She could not help but think of the fire bender that used to chase Aang, Sokka, and her. She could not remember his name and that frustrated her, and she did not know why. She suddenly realized that the voice of her attacker belonged to that fire bender, but she still could not remember his name.

Again she could not stop the faint pink color from creeping onto her cheeks as she thought about the conversation they had had at the Crystal Cave. Katara had been extremely close to healing his scar. She could not believe that she remembered every word that they had spoken but she could not remember his name. Suddenly she got very mad at herself. She should not be thinking about him that much. She should be thinking about how she was going to steal the mask.

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Meanwhile Zuko was running up to the mountain top, again. The mask was in his hand. When he reached his destination he stopped, his mind racing. He would have never imagined that the person who had come to posses his mask was the water tribe girl. He regretted knocking her out but he had to do that to get his mask back.

Now as he sat at the mountain looking at the city below him he could not help but ponder why she would need a mask. It did protect her, but didn't she have the Avatar and her brother for that? After giving the subject much thought he came to the conclusion that they had abandoned her. It all made sense. He had not seen them in the city while he was there with his uncle. And even if the Avatar was there the fire nation would have caught him. _So she is alone, just like me._ He thought.

The next day Zuko woke up with an uneasy feeling. He had fallen asleep on the mountain top and he could not brush off the feeling that he was being watched, and for once he was correct.

Earlier that morning Katara had woken up and decided to go for a walk. Not many people were up yet and as she walked deeper into the city a thought crossed her mind. She decided to go explore the mountain. She had never reached the mountain top and she thought that it would be fun. To her surprise when she got there she found 'that fire bender' asleep with the mask in his hand.

Zuko turned around and saw 'that water bender' standing behind him. "I want the mask." She said. She then got into a fighting position. She was not giving up. Instead of fighting the girl he sighed and said, "Fine, you obviously need it more than I do." He outstretched his hand. Hesitantly Katara took it. At the moment they both remembered the other person's name. "Zuko?" "Katara?" They both asked at the same time.

Thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!


	2. Awkward Reunion

_Disclaimer: I do not own avatar or the characters; however, I own the plot and ideas. _

_A/N ::: Please enjoy and review. (Also, I tried my best with the weird accent of the man in the story, so sorry if it's not good)_

Moments passed but neither Zuko nor Katara uttered a word. Growing tired of the awkwardness Zuko decided to break the uncomfortable silence.

He said, "So…um… do you want some breakfast or something."

Katara was taken aback by his sudden politeness. Wasn't this the same ruthless fire bender who used to chase them a little less than a year ago? She agreed and he started to walk away saying he would be right back. Minutes later he returned with a variety of fruits in his hand. Katara hesitantly took a mango he had offered her. They sat down to eat, as far away from each other as possible.

Wanting to say something Katara asked him, "So…um how have you been lately?"

He looked away from her and replied, "Um, fine. Everything's been alright."

Katara could tell something was wrong but he obviously did not want her to know about it. He asked her the same thing and she looked away and gave him the same response he had given her.

All of a sudden Katara got up and said, "I should be going." Before Zuko could react she had ran away.

Zuko just looked after her thinking that women were extremely weird. He was about to practice his fire bending skills when something on the floor caught his eyes. She had forgotten his mask. He picked it up and went over what had just happened in his head.

Meanwhile Katara was running back to her hut. When she got there she shut the door, closed all of her blue curtains and sat down on the floor. She suddenly remembered that she had forgotten the mask and mentally cursed at herself. She would need a complete disguise for what she was planning. But now that she had run into Zuko, she had to rethink some details.

After much thinking she concluded that a fire bender with be extremely useful, and would make things a lot less complicated for her and her future mission. But she still doubted asking him for help.

Over the years Katara had developed a large amount of confident. She knew it would be difficult to swallow her pride and ask her former enemy for assistance. Unable to come up with a decision she looked around her hut. The bright blue curtains were about the only things with color in the place.

She had been meaning to take the curtains down, because it stood out way too much, but she always put it off to the fallowing day. She certainly did not want to attract any attention to her self, but the blue curtains were the only thing that reminded her of home.

Concluding that she had spent too much time on the subject she got up and went outside. She had unfinished business to attend too, and mask or no mask, she would get it done.

It was the middle of the day but, as she had grown accustomed to, it already started to get dark. She hurried down the streets, walking in the shadows. She was trying to remember where she had met that man about three weeks earlier. After much searching, and walking around in circles, she found the bar that she had unintentionally wondered inside weeks before.

She halted at the entrance. She hated the disgusting, foul, horrid, place. After a long breath she opened the door and stepped in. As she walked to the corner where she suspected the person she was looking for to be in many men turned their heads to look at her.

This is what she had been dreading, and why she needed Zuko's mask. She rapidly made her way across the room, ignoring the many comments coming from guys who kept falling off their chairs. Finally she got to a man who had his back turned to her. Recognizing him she cleared her throat.

The man turned around and said, "I knew you vould come back, they all do. Now vat do you vant doll face?"

Keeping her temper in check she made sure her face was expressionless and replied, "You know what I want, the key."

He smirked and said, "I don't know. Vy should I give it to you?" Katara sighed. This was going to be a long conversation.

"Why shouldn't you give it to me?" She asked and he told her, "That's the question, isn't it." Thinking Katara said, "Exactly." Not being able to come up with anything else the man dropped the word game.

He lowered his voice and hissed, "I vould give it to you. But you see, there is someone else who vants that same key."

Katara gasped. "What?" She hissed, forgetting to keep her face expressionless. "Who else could possibly know about the key, or what it opens?" She demanded. All of a sudden her eyes widened.

"You didn't tell anyone else about it, right?"

The man looked taken aback. He said, "O' course not. I 'ad nothing to do with it. A man came up to me the exact same day you did and asked me about the magical key. 'E vanted to know if I 'ad it in my possession and I said yes. He vanted it but I told 'im to meet me 'ere again today after dark to discuss the situation 'cause I already had been asked for it."

Katara was furious! She said, "So who are you going to give it to?"

The man stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "It depends, 'ow much are you willing to pay for it."

Katara was ready for this. "It depends, how much do you want?" When the man said '2,000 gold pieces' Katara had to stop herself from gasping. She agreed and then said,

"Well at least tell me the other person's name."

The man said, "'e did not tell me 'is name."

Katara growled and the man added, "Vell, you did not tell me your name either."

She asked him, "What did he look like?" He replied, "He had a mask." Frustrated Katara said, "What kind of mask, many people where masks around here because of the soldiers." Thinking the man responded, "It vas blue and vite and it looked like a demon."

In half a second Katara was already headed to the doors. "Thanks!" She yelled back and kept running.

Unfortunately when she got out she ran into four Fire Nation Soldiers.

One of the said, "Hey, you look too young to be aloud in there." He pointed to the bar then addressed his partners, "Grab her." Suddenly Katara found herself trapped. Two of the soldiers had pinned her arms behind her back and they where very strong. Katara struggled against their strength but she could not break free.

Suddenly out of no where a figure wearing a blue and white mask started to throw fire balls at the people binding Katara. Once Katara was free she opened her water pouch and started to fight along side the man, whom she guessed was Zuko. They had knocked out all of the soldiers but more had arrived at the scene.

As Zuko aimed a fire kick at the closest one Katara proceeded to water whip two of them.

"Nice of you to drop by." Katara whispered to Zuko as she dodged an attack from one of the men.

"No problem and…" He blocked a blow form the nearest one and knocked two unconscious, "What exactly where you doing in there?"

She replied, "I'll answer your question if you answer mine."

"What's your question?" He asked her and she told him, "I can't say it now."

They had knocked all of them out. "So…" Zuko started to say but as he turned around he saw that at least fifty more soldiers were running towards them.

Thinking fast Zuko grabbed Katara's wrist and dragged her into the nearest corner.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

She yelled. "Shhh."

He said. "We have to travel by rooftops; on the ground it's easier for them to attack us."

"Whoa, stop right there. Two things, I can't jump from house to house like you can, and what's all this 'we' stuff."

Zuko was starting to get aggravated. He looked over his shoulder and could see the soldiers approaching.

"Look…" he began, "If we separate it would be easier for them to capture you again, because I could just leave you here, and as I can see you're out of water."

Katara looked away form him. She hated when he was right. She had run out if water and the only person who was willing to help her was standing right in front of her.

Zuko tapped his foot impatiently trying to decide why he was not just leaving her there. Katara on the other hand was immensely confused. She remembered all of Sokka's warnings about fire benders but Zuko was trying to help her. And that brought up a different question; why? Why was he risking his life trying to help her escape?

Katara found it extremely hard to say the next few words but finally, she swallowed her pride and said, "Fine, I need your help."


	3. The Truth And an Apology

**A/N:::: Well the third chapter is here!!!!! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed typing it. How ever, i have to say i am a bit discouraged because i only got ONE review (thanks soooooooooo much 'DarkFlameTailz' for reviewing) so i would apreciate more reviews. Thanks and enjoy!!**

He smirked at her and she glared at him. "Was that so hard?"

Katara responded by punching him in the gut. He groaned and said, "I'll take that as a yes."

Ignoring the pain in his gut he also said, "So, choose your rooftop."

Katara growled and said, "Like it matters" She was starting to get the feeling that he enjoyed her being in discomfort.

The soldiers were approaching so he pushed her to the nearest house and said, "Climb, fast." Katara started to climb, muttering words under her breath.

Once they were both on the top he said, "It's not that hard, really." He jumped to the next house, landing perfectly. Fear overwhelmed Katara but she jumped anyways.

It would have been a perfect jump but when she landed next to him she lost balance. Rapidly he grabbed her by the waist to stop her form falling. He quickly let go and looked away. Without saying a word he proceeded to jump to the next rooftop. This time when Katara jumped she landed perfectly. After several houses they could both see that it was a good idea to travel by jumping form rooftop to rooftop because the soldiers were still looking for them, looking confused.

It was getting dark and they were both growing tired. When they got to the next house Zuko stopped and turned to Katara, "I know a short cut but it might be dangerous."

Suddenly a thought crossed Katara's mind. "Wait, where exactly are we going?"

Zuko said, "To the mountains, it's safer and a lot easier to loose the soldiers." Katara agreed and said, "So tell me about this short cut." But before she could react he grabbed her arm and jumped down from the house bringing her down onto the ground with him. Before she could start yelling he dragged her to an abandoned dark alley. "Hey! Tell me when you're going to do that!" He rolled his eyes and said, "Come on." "Where are we going?" Katara asked while looking around and finding nothing but darkness.

"I told you. To the mountains. I know the way." Katara didn't move even though Zuko had motioned her to fallow him and started to walk away. "Come on!" He yelled back to Katara. But Katara could not get her feet to move. For some reason she felt fear inside of her being alone with Zuko. Zuko turned around and said, "What's wrong?" Still Katara made no move and she did not answer him. Zuko honestly did not know what the matter was but he knew how to get her to move. He spoke in a mocking voice, "Is someone scared of the dark?"

That did the trick. "What! No I'm not!" Katara yelled and started to walk. They walked in complete silence. It was extremely dark. The sun was down but even if it wasn't it would have been blocked by the tall buildings that were on either side of them. The buildings even blocked the little light shining from the moon. Unexpectedly Zuko broke the silence, "So now tell me why someone like you was in that bar." Katara sighed and said, "I had to get some information from someone. And I could ask you the same thing." They had now started to climb the mountain. Zuko pretended to be confused and said, "What do you mean?" Katara said, "You know what I mean. You were obviously headed to the bar too if you showed up to help me. There's just no way that you could have known I was in danger."

"I don't believe this!" Zuko told her. "I saved you and you're accusing me of heading to a _bar_!" Katara replied, "Oh please! Don't act all innocent. If we are going to work together to avoid the soldiers lets agree not to lie to each other." Zuko sighed. Katara added, "If it helps, I was there because of the same reason you where. I… I want that key too. I also talked to that man. He said he would give it to me and not to 'the man in a blue and white mask' who I'm guessing was you. But I have to pay him 2000 gold pieces." "What! You are the other person that wants the key. Well that's just great. Fantastic." Katara laughed. "The world's not coming to an end, and maybe if I feel like it I can let you use it when I finish my mission."

Now it was Zuko's turn to laugh. "Yeah right. Where are you going to get _2000 gold pieces_?" Katara looked away from him. "Yeah that's what I thought." Zuko responded as he scraped his arm on a branch that just fallen from an apple tree. Muttering words under his breath he inspected his bleeding arm. He concluded it would take about a week for it to heal. "Oh, you want me to help you?" Katara asked him when she saw it. Being his stubborn self Zuko said, "What? I don't need any help." Katara sighed, "Is someone afraid of a little water?" She asked in that same mocking tone he had used a couple of hours ago. Zuko growled in defeat.

Katara looked around her. There were many plants growing around her so with great ease she bended water from inside a couple of plants and with her hand movements brought it up. She bended the clear liquid into a glowing blue orb around her hand. She placed her hand on Zuko's arm. He flinched but then relaxed. He focused on her touch and she focused on the blood trickling down from his open wound, trying to close the wound. When she finished she said, "There, all done." Zuko was amazed. He looked at his arm and there was no trace of a cut ever being there. Katara saw his expression and laughed. "You look like a kid on Christmas." Ignoring her comment he said, "That's incredible."

Katara blushed and said, "Um, thanks." They continued to walk. Suddenly Zuko spoke up, "Just to make sure we are on to same page, you are talking about the magical key right? The one that can open any door and any lock?" Katara replied, "Yeah, that's the one." Zuko sighed. Then he said, "If you don't mind me asking, why do you need it?" Katara said, "Well, you see, I...um… need it because, well…um…I…" Zuko rolled his eyes. "If you don't want to tell me then don't. I don't care." Katara looked away from him, noticing the anger in his voice. She really wanted to trust him and tell him everything, but she could not bring herself to do that. She was about to say something but her voice died in her throat.

Zuko could not understand why she did not trust him. He had helped her so many times before he had lost count. Then he understood. He was a fire bender. That's why she did not trust him. Looking at the leaves on the hard ground he said, "Not all fire benders are killers. I thought someone like you would have understood that. But it wouldn't be the first time that I am incorrect." Katara was taken aback by his words. A year ago she would have never thought that her former enemy would have made her feel so horrible. He was right, but she would not admit that. Katara did not trust him because he was a fire bender. He hadn't said that exactly, but he had implied it.

"I do know that." Katara said when she found her voice again. Zuko replied, "If you say so." Katara could tell he didn't believe her. He said, "I don't care what you think of me. Honestly, I don't." Katara kept looking down at her feet. She couldn't look at him. For some reason his last words had hurt her. But she couldn't understand why she cared if _he_ cared what she thought. Then out of no where Katara started to get furious. Now she started to get defensive. "Fine…" She started to say. "May be I don't trust you because you are a fire bender. Or, I don't know, here's a more logical reason; the last time I trusted you, you turned around and betrayed me!" "But I had a reason! I did not do it just to let you down!" Zuko told her.

Katara faked a laugh. "Really?" She said, "Because I would love to hear you reason." Zuko swallowed. He was not about to spill his soul to this girl. He was not about to tell her the real reason why he be traded her. He growled. "I can't tell you." "Big surprise!" Katara shrieked, "Why did I see that coming? Now who's the one not trusting someone?" They had both stopped walking now and they were facing each other. His betrayal was replaying over and over again in Katara's mind and she could feel tears in her eyes threatening to spill down her face. Seeing the tears Katara was fighting back Zuko's anger vanished. His anger was soon replaced by guilt. After all, he _had_ betrayed her.

"Katara I'm so sorry, for everything." If Katara had been surprised by his words before, then it was nothing compared to the shock she was feeling after his last words. Katara asked, "Did you just apologize?" "Yes I did, because I mean it. Contrary to what you think I _am_ human." They had started to walk again. "I never said you weren't Zuko." Zuko sighed, "Actually, you did once, a long time ago." They reached the place where Zuko had set up camp. Zuko walked to the fire pit, intending to light it because it was very dark and they could hardly see. But Katara stayed put. "When did I ever say that?" Zuko was taken aback because he hadn't realized she was still thinking about it. He said, "Um, when I turned my back on you in the Crystal Cave. You said I was a monster."

Katara's stomach flipped. "I'm sorry. I was wrong." All he said was, "If you say so." Again she knew he didn't believe her. Katara sighed.


End file.
